Scale-beam with indicating-poise



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet l. R. L. HASSBLL;

SCALE BEAM WITH INDIGATING POISE. No. 330,397. Patented Nov. 17, 1885.

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R. L. HASSELL.

SCALE BEAM WITH INDIOATING POISE.

No. 330,397. Patented Nov. 17, 1885.

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R. L. HASSELL. SCALE BEAM WITH INDIOATING POISE.

No. 330,397. Patented Nov. 17, 1885.

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R. L. HASSELL.

SCALE BEAM WITH INDIOATINGVPOISE.

No. 330,397. Patented Nov. 1'7, 1885.

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SCALE BEAM WITH INDIGATING POISE. No. 330,397. Patented Nov. 17, 1885,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD LITTELL HASSELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SCALE-BEAM WlTH lNDlCATlNG-POISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,397, dated November 17, 1885.

Application filed February 6, 1885.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD LITTELL HASSELL, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements in Scale-Beams, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements on certain former patents of mine, which were granted to me October 28, 1879, No. 220,975, and March 27, 1883, Nos. 274,493 and 274,494. By referring to these patents it will be seen that motion is given to the indicating mechanism and poise by means of teeth formed on the bar or bars of the. scalebeam. By continued use and exposure these teeth and the teeth of the pinions in contact with them become worn, producing a looseness or backlash which prevents the simultaneous movement of the poise and revolving hands. Another objection is that in many places where scales are used the exposed teeth are liable to become clogged with dirt, thus causing inconvenience.

The objects of my present improvements are to secure the simultaneous movement of the poise and revolving hands, greater simplicity and cheapness of construction, increased efficiency, and less liability to get out of order.

My invention consists, mainly, in providing a scale-beam with a tense flexible connection or connections, by means of which motion is given to the indicating mechanism or to the poise, or to both, as hereinafter more fully described; and my invention also consists in certain minor features, as will be more fully set forth in the following specification and claims. These flexible connections may consist either of a wire, band, chain, cord, cable, or string of steel or other suitable material. My present preference is for a small steel wire, such as used for piano-strings, or a very small steel cable. These flexible connec tions can be coated or plated with any desired metal, or can be covered with rubber or other suitable material.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a scale beam and poise having my improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged face View of the poise shown in Fig. 1 as it appears after the Serial No. 155,154. (No model.)

removal of the iace-plate H, the glass 0, the rubber ring K seen in section in Fig. 7 and the nuts 82. Fig. 3' is the same as Fig. 2, but having the dial-plate a and the indicatinghands 0 and c removed. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View of the poise; taken at the line m x (see Figs. 6 and 7) and also showing part of one of the beam-bars B. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the poise and beam, taken at the line 00 x, (see Figs. 6 and 7,) thus removing one of the bars of the beam and showing the flexible connections which give motion to the indicating mechanism, and by means of which the poise can be moved along the beam, and at each end of the beam are shown the tension devices, to be explained hereafter. Fig. 6 is an end view of the poise, with the bars B in section, and showing the lower part of the poise cut away at line 00 x for the purpose of showing the means used for fastening the several parts of the poise together. Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section through the center of the poise. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the dial-plate a. Fig. 9 is a view of a modification of the gearing. Figs. 10, 11, and 12 are views of tension devices.

Like characters indicate like parts in the different views.

I shall generally prefer to use a double-barred beam, as seen in Fig. 1, in which the bars are marked 13, and I prefer to place between these bars the flexible connections which give motion to the indicating mechanism, and by means of which the poise can be moved along the beam. These flexible connections or wires cannot be seen in Fig. 1, but are seen in Fig. 5. By means of the wire at the poise can be moved along the beam, and the wire 11 gives motion to the indicating mechanism. These wires are fastened at each end of the beam to tension devices to be explained hereinafter, and enter the interior of the poise through small holes in its exterior end casing. The wire at Winds several times around the pulley 49, which is fastened to the shaft 51. The upper part of this shaft passes through and revolves in the upper casing of the poise, and has fastened to its upper end the knob R. Its lower end, which is formed with a screw-thread, enters a threaded hole in the projection of the interior casing,S, as seen in Fig. 7. The 01)- ICO ject of forming the lower end of this shaft with a screw-thread will be explained hereinafter, but at present it is evident that turning the knob It will move the poise along the beam. It is intended that this arrangement should be used for conveniently moving the poise short distances on the beam. For long distances the poise can be pushed or slid along the beam in the usual manner, the wires offering but little resistance. The springs 34, at each end of the beam, are to prevent the poise from being thrown violently against the ends of the beam. The wire a winds several times around the pulley 47, which is fastened to the shaft 48. By referring to Fig. 7 it will be seen that to each end of this shaft 48 are fastened the small gears 44 44, and also the larger gears 48 43.

The indicating mechanism of either side of the poise is the same, and for the present it will be best to confine our attention to the mechanism on one sidesay, the right-hand sideofFig. 7.

The small gear 44 meshes with the larger gear 42, which revolves on the hub of gear 46, and to the face of the hub of this gear 42 is fastened the slow-moving hand 0 for indicating the larger units. The gear 43 meshes with the small gear 46, which revolves on a pin or projection of the interior casing, S. This gear 46 has a long hub, on which the gear 42 revolves, and to the projecting end of this hub of gear 46 is fastened the fast-moving hand 0, which indicates the smaller units, such as pounds, ounces, &c., as the case may be. It will be seen, therefore, that when the poise is moved along the beam the pulley 47 and shaft 48 and its attached gears revolve and give motion to the indicating-hands c and c. The relative rates of speed at which these hands revolve will depend on the diameters and the number of gear-wheels in the system.

In Fig. 9 is shown a bottom view ofa modification of the gearing, which in some cases it may be preferable to use. In this arrangement the shaft 48 has fastened to it a gear,82, which meshes with the gear 83,fastened to the shaft 84. To this shaft 84 are also fastened the gears 43, which mesh with the gears 46,to the hubs of which are fastened the fast-moving hands. The gears 44 are fastened to the shaft 48, and mesh with the gears 42, to the hubs of which are fastened the slow-moving hands. These gears 42 revolve, as before, on the hubs of the gears 46. Y 1

Fig. Sisa perspective view of the dial-plate. I shall generally prefer to have the smaller units, such as ounces, pounds, &c., marked on the part a of the dial, and the larger units, such as tens, hundreds, thousands, &c.,on the sunken part a.

It will be understood, of course, that the character of the graduations on the dial-plate will depend entirely on the size and purpose of the scale.

The dial-plate is formed with four projecting legs. Two of these legs are seen in Fi.

to it in the manner shown.

end of the shaft.

8, (marked a The feet a of these legs rest on the casing II, as seen in Fig. 2.

I will now describe the tension devices.

In Fig. 5 the left-hand end of the wire a is seen fastened to the lever or arm 53, which is connected by the bar 54 to the arm 55. This arm 55 has its hearing or fulcrum on the projecting stud 6S,which is fastened to the casing of the beam. Thelowerend of arm 53 has its bearing on a similarstud. The wire at is fast ened to the arm 52, which has its bearing on the stud 67. The lower ends of the arms 52 and 55 are connected by a spring, 56. It is evident that the force of this spring, acting on the arms, will tighten the wires m and a. The pawls 62 and 58 are pivoted in the lower ends of the arms 52 and 55. These pawls engage 'with the teeth 63 and 57, formed on the interior of the cap or casing 85, so that the arms can only movein one direction, as shown. The springs 61 and 59 keep the pawls in snug contact with the teeth.

Atthe righthand end of the beam are shown two tension devices, which it may be convenient to use in addition to those just described. They are similar to each other, and it will only be necessary to describe one of them, which I will now do.

64 is an internally-threaded sleeve or nut, which receives the end of the screw 35. It is formed with a flattened end, as shown, and has a projection, 65. The wire m is fastened It is evident that by turning the screw 85 the sleeve 64 can be moved to the right and the wire m tightened.

At the righthand end of Fig. 10 is seen another kind of tension device,which I will now describe. It consists, mainly, of a wormwheel, w, a worm, w, and a coiled spring, w. Fig. 11 shows a top view of this device removed from the beam, and Fig. 12 a detail view. The worm-wheel "10 has a groove of sufficient depth turned in the center of its periphery, as seen in Fig. 11, and in this groove is fastened the end of the wire. The shaft to is formed as shown in Fig. 12, and passes loosely through the axis of the worm. To the upper square part of this shaft is fastened the interior end of the coiled spring to", and the exterior end of this spring is fastened to a pin in the extended rim to of the worm, so that by turning the shaft w the spring can be wound up. The cap 10 has a square hole formed in it, which fits over the lower square The cap is fastened to the bottom of the beam by screws, as shown. The resiliency of the spring turns the worm and worm-wheel, and thereby tightens the wire. The small round upper end of the shaft 10 revolves in a hole in the upper part of the beam.

The tension device seen at the left in Fig. 10 is substantially the same as that just described, all the parts being inverted.

w is a projection forming part of the upper casing of the beam. The lower end of this projection receives the small round end of the shaft which in this case of course would be formed on the opposite end of the shaft to that shown in Fig. 12.

It will be seen that the tension devices shown in Fig. 10 and those shown at the left in Fig. 5 are automatic in their action.

The stretch of steel piano-wire is very small, so small that further but necessarily somewhat extended experience may show that the use of an automatic tension device in many cases is unnecessary, in which cases the devices shown at the right in Fig. 5 will be used exclusively. These of course can be placed at either end of the beam, as most convenient.

The casing of the poise is made in seven separate parts H, H, H, H, H, H and H. The face-plate H has a lipped annular projection on its face side,which embraces and holds in place the rubber ring it and glass 0. (Seen in section in Fig. 7.) The interior casing S is cast solid with the part H, and has a projecting pin, as seen in Fig. 7, in which the gear 46 revolves. The interior casing S is cast solid with the part H and the interior casing S with the part II. The interior easing S has a projection which receives the threaded end of the shaft 51, as seen in Fig. 7.

In Fig. 3 it will be seen that the lower part of casingShas two projections, 8 S These projections receive the screws 33 33, and form a bearing for the part H, as seen in Fig. 4. This part H has two similar projections, 81 81, (seen in section in Fig. 7.) The upper part of these projections form one-half the bearing of shaft 48. This arrangement is convenient, as it admits of the shaft 48 being placed in the poise after the gears 43 43 44 44 and pulley 47 have been permanently fastened to it.

When the arrangement of gearing shown in Fig. 9 is used, the piece II will have four projections similar to 8l-two for each shaft and the projections S will be spread farther apart.

In Fig. 6 is shown the method employed of fastening the several parts of the casing of the poise together. The rod 45,whieh is threaded at each end, passes through the several parts of the casing and the foot a of the dialplate a. The hole in the face-plate H, through which this rod passes, is sufficiently countersunk to receive the nut 32, as shown. A rubber washer may, if desired, be placed at a for the purpose of keeping the dialplate in place, although the pressure of the rubber ring k on the face of the dial-plate will generally be found sufficient for this purpose.

When the poise moves along the beam, and the pulleys 47 and 49 revolve, they have a tendency, under the action of the wire, to move longitudinally on their axes. To accommodate this movement, the lower part of shaft 51 is formed with a screw-thread. The pitch of this thread should correspond with the pitch of the wire on the periphery of the pulley. The shaft 48 may also be screw-threaded at its bearings for the same purpose, or, as shown in Fig. 7, may be smooth. In either case sufficient space should be allowed for this longitudinal movement.

In all cases, if desired, the peripheries of the pulleys may be spirally grooved to receive the wires, and when the flexible connection is a chain or cord, &e., these grooves may be formed with indentations to fit the irregularities of the chain or cord, &c.

The tension devices are so cased in that no dirt or dust can reach them. The beam is cast without the lower parts, 85 86, (see Fig. 5,) which are afterward fastened to the beam by means of screws.

\Vhen a tense wire is wound several times around a cylinder, the tension of the wire has a tendency to pull the ends of the cylinder, or the shaft to which the cylinder or pulley is fastened, in opposite directions, thereby causing greater wear on one side of the bearing than the other. This may not prove aserious matter in practice; but it can easily be overcome, if desired, by having two wires instead of one on the same cylinder, one wire winding round one end ofthe cylinder or pnlley and one round the other end at some little distance apart, or, of course, if more convenient, by having two pulleys on the same shaft, one wire winding round one pulley and one round the other.

The holes in the ends of the poise' thi'orlgh which the wires enter the poise will be of a size just sufficient to admit the wires, so that all dirt which may collect on the wires will be removed as they enter the poise.

Instead of having separate wires for performing the separate duties of moving the poise along the beam and giving motion to the indicating mechanism, one wire can be used for both purposes. For instance, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, the dials can be raised and the shaft 48 lowered, so that the ends of the shaft can pass out through the face-plates beneath the dials, and a knob, such as It, be attached to each end.

Instead of using a pulley and wire, or chain, &e., for moving the poise along the beam, a rack and pinion may be used for this purpose, as shown in my other patents.

I do not wish to be understood as confining myself to the exact arrangement of parts here shown. For instance, the dials and indicating-hands need not necessarily be placed on the poise, but may be placed at any part of the beam and connected with the poise, by means of a suitableilexible connection, in such manner that by moving the poise along the IIO scale-beam, in contradistinction to its being set off in a separate frame.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination of a scale-beam, a movable poise, revolving indicating mechanism, and a tense flexible connection for giving motion to the indicating mechanism,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of ascale-beam carrying revolving indicating mechanism, a movable poise, and a tense flexible connection for giving motion to the indicating mechanism, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a scale-beam carrying revolving indicating mechanism, a movable poise, and a flexible connection so arranged that the indicating mechanism and the poise mox e simultaneously, or nearly so, by means of the flexible connection.

4.. The combination ofa scale-beam carrying revolving indicating mechanism, a movable poise, and a flexible connection by means of which the poise can be moved along the beam, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with a scale-beam, revolving indicating mechanism derivingits motion from the movement of the poise by means of a flexible connection, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination ofascale-beam, an indicating mechanism, a tense flexible connection, and a tension device, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of a scale-beam, aflexi ble connection, a handle or knob, and means for connecting the handle or knob with the flexible connection, substantially as set forth, and all for the purpose of conveniently moving the poise any desired distance on the beam.

8. The combination of a scale-beam, a movable poise, a flexible connection by means of which the poise can be moved along the beam, an indicating mechanism, and a flexible eonnection for giving motion to the indicating mechanism.

RICHARD LITTELL HASSELL.

Witnesses:

ROBERT BOYD, FRANK O. BRONSON. 

